All Saints Cemetery now open

FRANKLIN TWP. The Diocese of Camden has opened the first
phase of All Saints Cemetery, a 25-acre portion of
diocese-owned land on Tuckahoe Road.

The cemetery, which will hold its first mass on June 13, is
the first new cemetery in the diocese since 1955.

According to Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese of
Camden, the decision to develop the land was a response to
population growth in Gloucester County over four decades. In
2008, he said, 21 percent of South Jersey's population
was located in Gloucester County, up from 15 percent in
previous years. Last year, Camden County's share of
South Jersey's population decreased from 43 to 37
percent.

The population growth, he said, has also sparked the diocese
to reconfigure parishes across South Jersey.

"This was a time to open a new cemetery," said
Bob Guerrieri, director of Catholic Cemeteries for the
Diocese of Camden. "People are moving into the
Gloucester County area, especially the Franklin Township
area. There is a need."

The first phase of All Saints Cemetery will include some
25,000 ground burial spaces that Guerrieri said will take 80
years to fill. Any planning for additional phases of
cemetery expansion would begin in 75 years, he said, and
could cover 281 acres of diocese-owned land on Tuckahoe
Road.

"Our means are to take care of the Catholic community
of the diocese forever," Guerrieri said.
"That's why we have to plan these cemeteries
accordingly."

A 35-foot, three-sided tower already stands in the cemetery,
and a mausoleum that will accommodate 1,650 crypt spaces
and 240 niche spaces for cremation urns is still under
construction.

Already, 75 burial sites and some 30 mausoleum crypt spaces
have been purchased, and two people are already interred
there.

Guerrieri said the cemetery will have positive effects on local businesses including funeral parlors, florists and headstone and monument dealers. During holidays, he said, families tend to bring flowers and Christmas blankets to grave sites....